﻿Envoy: (Swedish envoy meets minister)

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Sweden Mr. Tomas Rosander called on the Minister of State for IT& Telecom Ms. Anusha Rahman, here on Thursday.

Various issues of mutual interest and promotion of bi-lateral cooperation in the arena of IT& Telecom were discussed in the meeting. The minister apprised the Ambassador regarding key initiatives being taken by the Ministry of IT for ubiquitous sectoral development, says a press statement issued here.

She stated that we have laid down a telecommunication highway and continuously working to widen it throughout the country. She further stated that there was a phenomenal increase in the number of subscribers of 3G/4G in the country.

She said our country of some 200 million has 60% youth population which turns Pakistan into a lucrative market from a human resource perspective, particularly in IT & Telecom sector and its an encouraging factor that big international companies like “ Ericson” from Sweden are already doing well in Pakistan.

Anusha Rahman further said that we are working on the vision of “accelerated digitization” and we have recently approved RFP for tech-city, an incubation project for the young entrepreneurs and start-ups and to give required support and international exposure to innovation of our youngsters.

She said we are expecting international bidders on this project, she added. She also informed the Ambassador of the first state of the art “Technology Park” proposed to be built by the Korean Exim bank, and the Telecentre project which has entered in to an implementation phase.

The minister said that “Local manufacturing” in Pakistan, is a priority agenda of our government. To this end government of Pakistan has recently launched an incentive package and International companies, who are in smart phones manufacturing business, are showing interest to invest in Pakistan.

She said Swedish companies should also tap this opportunity and get benefits of win-win package by investing in local manufacturing of smart phones and other equipment related thereof.

The Swedish Ambassador, while appreciating the forward looking steps being taken by the government of Pakistan and Ministry of IT for the development of IT& Telecom sector, assured their cooperation for enhancing bilateral engagement in IT & Telecom spheres, between both the countries.

On behalf of the Swedish IT Minister, the Ambassador, handed over a letter of invitation from Swedish IT Minister, to visit Sweden to further explore the areas of mutual cooperation & collaboration in IT and Telecom sector, where both the countries could join hands to work in unison.